Archive for the 'Training Camp' Category

Lakers - Bobcats in Anaheim: Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on October 23, 2008
in In-Game, Running Diary and Training Camp
. 0 Comments

Hey folks, welcome back to the Honda Center in Anaheim. If you’re watching on TV, it must be on TNT, who has exclusive rights to the broadcast for the first of 11 times this season.

As such, the best team in the business - Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins and Cheryl Miller - is here to call the action, while our radio booth of Spero Dedes and Mychael Thompson can still be heard on your radio dial or via NBA.com.

As we reported a bit earlier, Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell won’t be playing tonight; it’ll be interesting to see who Phil Jackson starts in the place of No. 24. As the media salivates as if a Jackson’s lineup card were a Carl’s Jr. burger (at midnight), here are a few options:

A) Fisher, Odom, Ariza, Gasol and Bynum
B) Fisher, Ariza, Radmanovic, Gasol and Bynum
C) Farmar, Fisher, Radmonovic, Gasol and Bynum
D) Farmar, Fisher, Odom, Gasol and Bynum
E) Fisher, Odom, Radmanovic, Gasol and Bynum
F) Fisher, Walton, Odom, Gasol and Bynum
G) None of the above

If it were only Kobe missing the game, perhaps Jackson would go with Vujacic, but the third shooting guard on the depth chart is Coby Karl, and it’s fair to speculate he won’t be starting. Ty and I have been discussing how Jackson might not want to mess with his Odom-Farmar-Ariza combo off the bench since Kobe’s going to be back almost immediately, but we’re not sure about the best alternative.

Any guesses?

Jackson went with option B. Fair enough.

First Quarter
At about 5 p.m., it looked to me as if one of the rims were off a little bit. Just slightly slanted. But apparently that wasn’t the problem in a five-minute delay before tipoff at 7 p.m. Instead, as reported by the seated-next-to-me Cheryl Miller, the wire inside of the rim broke, and lead official Bob Delaney was concerned that it might cut one of the players. Make it a 13-minute and counting delay.

No worries though, I’ll now look for a “Bayside Tigers” t-shirt online so I can be Zach Morris for Halloween. Don’t copy me - I already have unlaced high tops, stone-washed jeans and spiky blond hair with a Manhattan Beach wave.

Actual First Quarter Tip
OK. Only 14 minutes there for the two Honda Center guys that must have been sweating huge bullets trying to rush the rim-fixing job, which now features about 10 strips of very visible white tape keeping the net up. Gotta wonder if that distracts the shooter? Not Pau Gasol, who cleaned up an Ariza miss for the game’s first points. Remember, Gasol’s shooting 63.2 percent this preseason. He’s no Andris Biedrins, but that ain’t bad…

Joining Gasol in the lane defensively was of course Bynum, who combined with the Spaniard to contest three early Bobcat misses near the rim before a Vladimir Radmanovic three made it 5-0. If Vlad had stepped on the line, he would have equaled Tampa’s 4-0 World Series game two lead over Philly.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Bobcats in Anaheim: Running Diary’

Kobe, Sasha and JP Injury Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on October 23, 2008
in Injury News, Josh Powell, Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and Training Camp
. 0 Comments

Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell will all be in street clothes for L.A.’s Thursday evening contest between the Lakers and Charlotte Bobcats.

  • Bryant said before the game that his knee is a little sore, but he remains quite pleased that the hyperextension was nothing at all serious. He’s listed as day-to-day, and could possibly play tomorrow night in Ontario … Though we shouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t. We’ll certainly be shocked if he doesn’t start in Tuesday’s season opener.
  • Vujacic, on the other hand, told me that he is going to play tomorrow night, as he’s intent upon getting at least one preseason game under his belt before the regular season opener against Portland.
  • Offseason acquisition Powell suffered a strained left hamstring Tuesday night in San Diego, and is also day-to-day.

    • Bryant Expects to Play Thursday

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 22, 2008
    in Injury News, Kobe Bryant, Podcast and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    Kobe’s knee seems to be just fine…

    A night of tension regarding Bryant’s knee hyperextension Tuesday night in San Diego rendered positive reports after Wednesday’s practice.

    Lakers spokesman John Black said that the original diagnosis by the Lakers’ training staff of a hyperextended knee was accurate, adding that there are no plans for Bryant to see a doctor. Bryant did not practice on Wednesday in favor of receiving treatment, and Phil Jackson noted that while Kobe is “a little sore,” Bryant “expects to play tomorrow” against Charlotte in Anaheim.

    Bryant addressed the media himself after Jackson was done; click here to watch the video or look below for the audio.

    Here are some of the major points covered by Bryant:

  • He’s used to getting injured, but it’s the minor ones that worry him because little tweaks can sometimes wind up being serious. Kobe was concerned last night but it “feels OK” right now.
  • On whether he’ll play tomorrow: “If I’m good to go, I’ll go. I don’t see why not.” Bryant added that he “should be fine” for the opener, not seeming concerned at all.
  • Bryant said the scariest part was doing tests for areas of the knee like the ACL, but fortunately, there was no soreness in that movement.
  • He’s very relieved.
  • He wasn’t convinced he was going to be OK until this morning, when there was no swelling and the movement was pretty good. He’s putting weight and pressure on it already.
  • Bryant didn’t sleep much last night, opting to get up every once in a while to stretch out and test his knee.

     
    icon for podpress  Standard Podcast [4:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    • Lakers Cut Roster to 15

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 22, 2008
    in Practice News, Training Camp and Transactions
    . 0 Comments

    The Lakers requested waivers on guard Joe Crawford and forward CJ Giles on Monday, opting to keep guard Coby Karl on the squad perhaps in part due to the condition of Sasha Vujacic and Kobe Bryant.

    Phil Jackson acknowledged how tough it is to cut young guys this late in training camp, particularly as both Crawford, Giles and Brandon Heath (waived last week) gave maximum effort for L.A.

    Crawford was the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Lakers after the 22-year old completed four season at Kentucky, where he averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 boards and 1.5 assists in 127 games. The Detroit, Michigan native averaged 2.8 points in 7.3 preseason minutes for the Lakers.

    Giles, a 6-11 forward who finished his collegiate career at Oregon State after playing two seasons at Kansas, managed 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in ten games last season for the Beavers. He competed in four preseason games for L.A., averaging 2.0 points and 2.5 boards in 7.2 minutes.

    Click here for the Press Release

    Irish Chat

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 22, 2008
    in Podcast, Pre-Game and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    John IrelandKCAL’s John Ireland took some time to chat with us prior to Tuesday’s game in San Diego, detailing what really happened when Shaq started his expletive-laced postgame interview, a charity game Ireland played in S.D. back in the day and what things stand out to him about the 2008-09 Lakers.

    We’ll be touching base with Ireland and each of L.A.’s four broadcasters throughout the season right here on the blog and on lakers.com.

    Here’s the audio:

     
    icon for podpress  John Ireland (13:17) [13:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    GM’s Favor Lakers

    Published
    by
    Ty Nowell
    on October 22, 2008
    in Derek Fisher, Phil Jackson and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    The NBA’s annual General Manager survey has been released by the league and over 46% think the Lakers will take home the title this year.

    The Celtics came in second with 19.2% of the vote and the Hornets garnered 11.5%.

    The Purple & Gold are also the overwhelming favorite to win the West (66.7%) and the Pacific Division (100%).

    As for individual honors, GM’s thought that Phil Jackson was the second best coach in the league (behind Gregg Popovich), but was the best motivator in the league by far. Guard Derek Fisher also made the top three of active players that will make the best head coach someday.

    Kobe Injury Update

    Published
    by
    Ty Nowell
    on October 21, 2008
    in Injury News, Kobe Bryant and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    Official word from the Lakers PR staff is that Kobe Bryant suffered a hyperextended right knee and will not return in the second half. Bryant is being listed as day-to-day and will be re-examined Wednesday.

    Bryant left the game late in the second quarter after bumping his knee.

    Lakers - Bobcats in San Diego: Running Diary

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 21, 2008
    in In-Game, Running Diary and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    Nope … Still not using any “Anchor Man” jokes here. I mean, no promises, but I’ll do my best.

    Tipoff should be in about 15 minutes as Charlotte looks to become the last NBA team to earn a preseason win in a game against a Lakers’ squad that doesn’t exactly fit the mold of an easy win. In fact, when playing hard, this team might be harder to beat than anybody in the preseason, since second units get near equal minutes to the first.

    When Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar are the first three guys off your bench, it’s all good … Particularly when Charlotte counters with Matt Carroll, Adam Morrison and D.J. Augustin. Be honest: whom are you taking on paper?

    Quick Injury Note: As we said yesterday, Sasha Vujacic will not play this evening. Vladimir Radmanovic, however, is starting. His sprained left middle finger doesn’t appear to be an issue, but we’ll keep an eye out to see if it troubles him during the game.

    First Quarter
    Sight Disclaimer: I’m sitting directly and literally behind the Laker bench - Farmar and Brian Shaw are within my reach - meaning I won’t necessarily be able to see everything tonight. Right now, the yellow warmups are all standing in front of me, so I couldn’t necessarily tell you who just missed that first show. Fish? Yeah. I’ll work on this. OK I did see Bynum change a shot, grab a board and lay in at the other end for the game’s first bucket.

    That allowed the Laker bench to take a seat, and for me to see a beautiful and crisp Kobe-crossover then dish to a wide-open Vlad, who drained a three. Finger’s fine so far. For the ‘Cats, Gerald Wallace is on the bench and Larry Brown’s going with Jared Dudley at the three.

    There’s Vlad again, draining another three prior to a Fisher J that made it 14-4 Lake Show early. Saying that Vlad should sprain his finger more often wouldn’t be funny, so I won’t, even though he also has three assists and a steal. As a team, the Lakers started 8-for-10, including Vlad’s 2-for-2 and 3-for-3 from Gasol.

    With the score 18-12 at the 5:17 mark, Odom checked in along with Wallace for Charlotte. The difference today is that Jackson left Bynum and Gasol in and stuck Vlad on the bench, giving L.A. a massive front line that quickly connected for four points. The first hoop came on a Bynum dunk after a pretty Gasol feed, the second on an Odom drive to the rack. With all this scoring going on and considering the age of the arena, it’s fair to say that these rims are quite soft. That’s 24-14 Lakers, as L.A.’s getting whatever shot it wants on offense, and hitting 11-of-16.

    How about this lineup from Phil: Pau, Lamar, Ariza, Kobe and Farmar. A super athletic group, it’s ironic that they’ve been rather lackluster with transition defense and allowed the Bobcats a 10-0 run to tie things at 24. Make that 12-0, after an Okafor dunk. Go ahead and erase the second paragraph of this entry from your memory please. Thanks. Good point from Ty Nowell - Lamar’s guarding Adam Morrison and Luke Walton’s on Wallace. Why? The bleeding stopped thanks to Ariza, whose and-1 as time expired put L.A. back on top.

    Continue reading ‘Lakers - Bobcats in San Diego: Running Diary’

    Lakers - Bobcats Pregame

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 21, 2008
    in Podcast, Pre-Game and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    Sorry.

    There will be no “Anchor Man” references tonight, despite the Lakers presence in San Diego for a preseason tilt against the Charlotte Bobcats. The people here have certainly heard about whale body parts and the like too many times.

    Instead, we’ll talk hoops. Before the game, in fact, I sat down with Lakers TV play-by-play man Joel Meyers to talk both about the team and his preparation as a broadcaster.

    You can listen to that conversation by clicking below.

    I also spent some time with Lakers sideline reporter and L.A. sports talk radio personality John Ireland, but we’ll hold that one until tomorrow. Most importantly, I found out the reason Ireland and KCAL avoided trouble during Shaq’s profanity-laced postgame tirade a few years back. Fun stuff.

    Having more time to kill prior to the 7 p.m. tipoff, I spent some time with Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar in the locker room, discussing their picks for the NBA’s skinniest, fastest, highest-jumping and strongest players. That interview’s uploading right now, and will also be available tomorrow.

    As far as tonight’s actual game against the Charlotte Bobcats - the first of three in four days for the Lakers - there’s not much to add from our Gameday post. However, there was one shocking development - Phil Jackson was asked about Lamar Odom’s role and about his starting lineup. I know, I know … that’s crazy.

     
    icon for podpress  Joel Meyers Pre-Game Talk (10:32): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    Lakers Practice Report 10-20

    Published
    by
    Mike Trudell
    on October 20, 2008
    in Andrew Bynum, Phil Jackson, Practice News, Sasha Vujacic and Training Camp
    . 0 Comments

    After consecutive impressive outputs this past weekend at STAPLES Center, spirits were up at the Lakers’ practice facility on Monday.

    The most pressing news: Sasha Vujacic completed his first practice since the first day of training camp. After the workout, we heard from Phil Jackson, Andrew Bynum and Vujacic, interviews you can watch on our video page.

    Here are your Phil bullet points:

  • He was asked, yet again, about his starting lineup. Wow. This has to be some kind of record (answer didn’t change).
  • Jackson said he’s using Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar in “special roles,” and said that Odom is enjoying his current role in part because he gets to run the show as the leader of that “sequence of guys.”
  • Farmar has been impressing Jackson, who explained that part of Jordan and the second unit’s importance is providing energy to the team as the vets ramp things up over the first month or two of the season.
  • Jackson said Vujacic looked “OK,” then “pretty good.” Jackson saw him limping once or twice, but heard no complaints.

    A note about Bynum: He said that while his knee’s feeling good, he did have a little bit of swelling a week ago, and left it at that.

    Stay tuned for a preview of Tuesday night’s action in San Diego against the Charlotte Bobcats with Derek Fisher serving as analyst/assistant coach.